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There seems to be an unspoken rule in the TV industry these days: A show isn’t truly cancelled until another network or streaming service fails to resurrect it.
But upon hearing that Under the Dome would not be returning for Season 4, executive producer Neal Baer had no desire to shop the CBS series to another platform.
“I’m very happy with this ending. I feel very satisfied,” Baer tells TVLine. “We made it so there could be another [season]… but it wasn’t necessary.”
Thursday’s series finale found the dome around Chester’s Mill finally coming down, though it wasn’t exactly a celebratory time for the residents. Sam and Junior — who were both brainwashed beyond repair — were killed before the hour was through (the latter at the hands of his own father). Kinship leader Dawn, who was initially presumed dead, resurfaced one year after the dome’s disappearance to get her hands on a new and dangerous egg. But if you’re a Barbie/Julia fan, there’s no need to worry: They’re engaged!
TVLine spoke with Baer to discuss Dome‘s final hour, Stephen King’s involvement with the series and the only possible storyline that a fourth season would bring.
TVLINE | You said before Season 3 started that all of our questions about the dome would be answered. Were you approaching this finale as though it would be your last episode?
Yes and no, in the sense that we didn’t know if there would be a fourth season. We wanted to have a satisfying conclusion that made the audience feel like they had been on this journey and there was an end to it. In a way, we gave ourselves an ending that really ended the show. We put Barbie and Julia together, they’re going to get married. Big Jim’s a congressman. Junior — who was so disturbed by the end — is gone. Sam, who was so filled with guilt, is gone. There’s hope for Joe, because we know that Norrie is indefatigable and will save him. Yes, there’s an egg that remains that Dawn has seen, but we can feel confident that our team of Barbie, Julia and Big Jim, along with Norrie, will come to the rescue yet again. We have this very satisfying ending with all of our characters.
TVLINE | Were there any other ideas in the writers’ room that involved bigger cliffhangers, or different scenarios in which, say, Junior didn’t die?
We didn’t really [come up with any]. When we talked to the network about it, we wanted it to be fulfilling, and these were the ideas that we pitched to the network that they really liked. We really played out the dome, you know? Every kind of terrible environmental problem or catastrophe affected them. What more was there to do? We had to give answers this year. We played the first year as, “How can we deal with this? How are we going to get along as people?” The second year we played, “Is the dome good or bad?” and faith versus science. And this last year, we played the individual versus the group and the evil within. Is there hope of getting out, and how are we going to do it? And we gave viewers the clues at the very beginning of this season as to how they were going to get out — the eight notes. We started whistling those notes early on in the season, and that was the key to answering how the dome would come down. We did an incredible amount of planning, if you look over the whole season and see how it all comes together.
TVLINE | Given the cliffhanger in Thursday’s finale, what would a possible Season 4 have looked like?
They would have gone someplace else, and the dome would come down over another place. [Laughs] But then it would be like, “Then what?” Would we do the same thing again? It would have been a real challenge. I went on this incredibly interesting adventure that was a parable for sustainability in our world, and now, it’s up to us to live the real life and do something about it.
TVLINE | The show was initially adapted from Stephen King’s novel, and he wrote the Season 2 premiere last year. How much involvement has he had in this final season?
He’s always been a wonderful voice of reflection, talking to us whenever we have questions. He’s always been supportive with the fans in saying, “It’s not a rendition of the book, it’s its own thing, but it has a lot of elements from the book.” He’s always just been a real supportive force.
TVLINE | With three seasons under your belt, were there any storylines you didn’t have time to explore that you wish you’d had time for?
The only thing I wish we could have done is bring back everybody in avatar form — Angie, Linda, Dodee, Reverend Coggins. My other desire — but it’s so difficult to do in TV, because there’s so many different characters — was to bring back [Norrie’s mom] Alice, like we did in Season 2, where we brought Dodee or Angie back. I would have loved to have a whole avatar scene where they’re all just haunting Big Jim. [Laughs] That would have been my dream.
Under the Dome fans, what did you think of Thursday’s series finale? Grade the episode via our poll below, then hit the comments to back up your choice!
How can anyone watch this and say it gave closure? you can tell it was meant as a season finale and not a series. it didn’t answer much.
It gave closure in the respect that the series didn’t end with us wondering if they will ever get out from “Under The Dome.” Not closure as in us wondering what will happen next.
They definitely left it too open imo for it to be considered closure.
Spot on!
I thought it gave closure to the initial premise… with the Dome down, people live on. Life continues and in the continuation there may be another dome, there is a bad guy in congress(no, really?), happy couples get married, big brother is watching and someone is longing for a lost love. It was a pretty good ending.
Loved this comment, nail on the head!!
Still I love the remaining characters, and want to see what happens to them from outside the dome.
It was great, but, always a but, please bring it back, want to see more and more
Want more, bring it back, bring it back
Yes bring it back! It was such an ending leaving us all wanting more. How did it get cancelled at all???? OK Netflix or some other format please don’t let this series die!
If Netflix is going to bring anything back, it should be Lilyhammer instead of this piece of god knows what..
i’m norrys fan. hard to hear the news even in 2020.
Sorry but ending was BAD.You can see that there should be another season,they should do better closing everything finale.And here we have Dawn i s still alive and they will be hunting her,she will open new Dome,Norrie have a plan to save his boyfriend,and we don’t know if he is himself or he is alien.BAD ENDING for medicore tv show.
i agree. there are still alot of unanswered questions. why show dawn alive if it’s over. i was shocked at that ending. there should be a season 4 and start at the point when the dome comes down.
agreed! I want to see what happens to all that survived and what will become of them now that the dome has come down. I’m addicted. It CANNOT be over. I want more.
i dont think so
I thought it was getting really interesting! Agreed…definitely not closure!! Good writers make good shows, not producers. I think he just got bored or found another project he liked more. I for one, will miss the show!
Ikr like is he he even gone try to continue the show some how like think about the fans
Part of me would have liked to see a season 4 maybe with 5 or 6 episodes just to really finish it, but the other part of me is glad that it’s over. Season 2 and 3 just seemed like they were just doing anything to keep it going adding more scenes then necessary. The acting was ok but the writing wasn’t. A lot of the things that were said was just plain dumb and unbelievable.
After season one, which was supposedly a mini-series, didn’t answer any questions, I stopped watching. Doesn’t seem I missed out on much.
You missed out on everything! Season 2 and 3 were great must watch before you judge it
I watched all of Season 2 and 4-5 episodes of Season 3 and they were all crap, imo.
your opinion.. thats all im saying -_-
Was this closure? This was a big game of CHICKEN that the people who make UNDER THE DOME are playing with CBS. This is what they’re saying: “When SCORPION, MADAM SECRETARY or CSI:CYBER goes BUST next season(probably CYBER) or too many new shows go BUST this winter, We have UNDER THE DOME; WAR(or Season Four) all laid out and ready to go. How stupid can you be not to jump on it?” OR, they are saying to another Network “We have the idea for a Fourth season of UNDER THE DOME all set up. Call us ASAP to discuss.” I have one question? How the hell can Junior still be alive? He was stabbed twice.
they cast Marg Helgenberger the show was bound to be canned.
Dean, I thought the same thing. 😀
Agreed! Every time she is cast on a show, aside from years ago on CSI, it gets canceled within a season. They keep trying to cast her as a much younger woman, sorry, I’m not being ageist here, but she, more importantly, isn’t a good actress!
But they killed her of. There is still more to see, they need to save the world right…….
Harsh but true, dont know what it is about her, have same issue with woman from Medium (Patricia Arquette). Came here searching for the Name of the actress playing Dawn but its not on the cast list on IMDB….grrr
The woman who played Dawn (and Eva) is Kylie Bunbury
Thanks :-)
I want more under the dome how can that be the series ending? To me was a perfect season finalie
Junior is dead. At the end when Norrie was in the morgue, there was a card that identified Junior’s remains. I don’t think he survived the stabbing, but they were keeping all members of the kinship in one area (dead or alive as evidenced by Norrie finding Joe). At least that is how I understood the ending.
But why would Junior still be in the morgue a whole year later? That’s just silly!
To study his formation into the kinship and use its finding to create a cure. Remember he was injected with the original cure, and it made him stronger. They can do study to find out why it didn’t work.
Maybe they should ship Junior off to THE WALKING DEAD where he can die like the walkers die; BULLET TO THE HEAD! I doubt the show will be coming back unless CBS has a catastrophic season with many of its fall shows for 2015-16. Then I could see it coming back in the fall of 2016. Unfortunately, CBS isn’t NBC so I doubt they will have that sort of a catastrophe with their fall shows.
Junior isn’t alive he is dead when norrie went into what was a morgue I guess that’s what it was it said j rennie jr. Specimen 24. He’s dead. It’s Joe that’s still alive.
I loved it. I understand the ending and I appreciate what they were able to give us. There was closure. Their were still some possibilities to explore. But isn’t that the mark of any great show. To never end it but to end it with you asking well did this happen or did they go here. It let’s the imagination soar. Personally I say bravo. Huge Stephen King fan. Loved the show. Loved the actors. And I thank all that were a part of the show. It really gave me something to look forward to each week. Thanks.
Screw that, I want more. I don’t like cliff hangers.
CLIFF hangers are ok if they pull you back to more story…space aliens in Omaha seems almost too good to pass up….and WHATEVER happened to the huge stockpile of propane tanks and why were they there…what was THAT all about???
The propane was being stockpiled to use in the production of that drug, Rapture. This was explained in season one or two, can’t remember which.
I agree with you!
Well I can say for a fact that the finale lived up to, and even surpassed, the average episode quality. But that’s like saying Andre is better than Totts–neither is Moet et Chandon or even Korbel. But they can provide some needed refreshment when there is a dearth of other choices available. Beyond that, about all I can say is that it’s done, and I stuck with it through it all. But I kind of wish I’d hopped off THIS train a season or 2 ago!
I agree! It started strong, was a roller coaster of good and bad (sometimes terrible, never great), and ended on a reasonably decent note. I thought the finale was well done. The dome came down and we got to see into the future with some intrigue as to “what could’ve happened.” I’m glad CBS decided to end the series with an entertaining episode that essentially wrapped everything up. I was satisfied with the finale even though I was frustrated with the show throughout the three summer run.
I said it before Marg Helgenberger gets many shows cancelled post CSI. Be it a freshman show like intelligence or a show with a few seasons under its belt like dome.
By definition the word “many” means a lot and 2 is not a large number. Not only that but how is she the one that “gets” them cancelled? Can we really attribute low ratings solely to her as opposed to the various other factors that provide a lack of interest?
You hate Marg don’t you? Do you REALLY have to say this thing over and over again? You probably just like attention. Here I you go. Stop now.
I don’t understand people who keep saying that. She had 1 get cancelled. Which was a show that actually had picked up. Dome was on it’s way out this season w/ or w/out Marge.
“The Dome”…fabulous show. Disappointed in the fact there won’t be a 4th season :'( Ratings claim there was a viewer drop-off as the season’s continued. Iv’e never missed an episode and I found a building progression of intrigue, drama and twists & turns within the show. Especially this last season! I rate it as “mind blowing!”
Please make a forth season oh my gosh I will cry if this is for real the end.
WTF thats not a satisfying ending at all ive watch this show since it started and CBS owes the fan’s a better ending. I would have been fine with season three being the end of Under the Dome if there had been a better ending. I mean come on I can think of plenty of ideas for season four that dont envole another dome coming down and what about Joe wtf man him and Norie pluse Barbe and Julia was my favorite part of the show its bull man they
I agree with you Hope they make another season love that show and there’s plenty of ways they can write season 4 without a dome
I’m disappointed there’s not gonna be a season 4 and so on they left it open and very sad to see it end after only 3 seasons my husband and is fave show :( please make another season cbs!!!!!
I thought the finale brought resolution to the plots built from seasons 1-3. It also left the door open with Dawn and Joe being alive, and the discovery of the egg, but that’s a new series of events that we won’t get to see. Like the article states, we can only assume that Barbie and the gang would have found a way to prevail. Fun show, I would have enjoyed a 4th season.
I am really disappointed that it is cancelled too. Leave it to CBS to not only cancel a great show, but to not even give a proper ending to it for all of us who love the show and have watched it since the beginning. So many unanswered questions, like why even bother to have the kinship say that they are preparing for something that is coming if you aren’t even going to give any idea what that something is. This was the only prime time show besides Hawaii Five-O and Extant that I watch on CBS, and given all the things I just mentioned, I’m not very likely to watch any more
All the people talking about closure when they kept saying something was coming and they were preparing for that something… They may no longer be “under the dome” but what happened with that threat?
I didn’t think the ending was awful. I do look forward to an Under the Dome movie in the future that follows the book storyline.
i liked it ,and wish cbs would bring it back next summer as a 4 hour mini series beyond the dome
I thought it was awful. And the effects were bad B movie effects at best. I wanted more closure. I am glad the dome came down but this entire season was just off for me. I’m glad the EP is happy with it because as a fan, I am not at all.
Let this be a lesson to you: This would have fared very well as a limited series with one season only. Then you had to stretch it out to squeeze more money and air time out of it and turned it into a twisted and ugly piece of crud. And now everybody is just laughing at you, happy that its over.
did I miss something? what was the actual purpose of the dome?
My first and last comment on UTD! As others have said, much of the fun of watching this horrible, fantastic show is meeting here on Friday to read Tim’s recap, and that’s what I’ll miss the most. I can’t imagine another show coming along that’s this bad is such a great way that Tim will be able to skewer so well. Well, there’s a lot of bad TV out there, so we can only hope.
A few random thoughts: What’s with the population all of a sudden (a couple of episodes ago, before the great oldster purge) being 2,000?! As I recall from the season 2 finale (God help me, I’ve watched every episode) Barbie was leading the entire population of Chester’s Mill, except for Julia and Big Jim, out through the tunnel. There were not 2,000 people in that tunnel! And you’re telling me 2,000 townies were living on the lawn of the town hall? Or in that bunkhouse room? And does the Kinship have some kind of magic that can create 2,000 matching, and perfectly fitting, blue outfits?! Oh, and a lovely outfit with matching boots for their new queen?! And why am I getting excited about this?!
Finally, After Tim’s comments last week about the neck sweat stains, I LOL’ed this week every time someone showed up with a huge, and growing, neck stain, but no pit stains.
Oh, Under the Dome, you crazy crazy show, I will miss you.
Oops – I meant to post this on TV.com, but a lot of it applies anyway!
Terrible, terrible episode. Awful finale.
i loved the golden baseball in the finalé, one of the first elements from the book to be incorporated in the show in a long time.
The saddest thing about the end of Under the Dome is that Rachelle Lefevre won’t be on my television every week.
It was time to end the show, it was feeling very drawn out, I loved it but all thing must end hopefully before it becomes hated
I hope she gets another show she can star in…. Since finding her in this show, I looked up career which wasn’t too deep previously. She was on Swingtown as a blonde trying to hook up with one of the leads…
it was a good season finale. it didn’t felt like a series one cause of ending. it would have been interesting to see everyone traveling around to find Dawn and new egg in season 4.
They didn’t explain what Julia’s role as the Monarch (last touched in… season 1 finale?) meant. The hype about that seemed so big back then and then that was totally dropped.
Otherwise, I found the finale somewhat satisfying… not fully, but enough satisfying to not make me bothered.
I enjoyed Under the Dome – up to a point – just got through watching back to back seasons on Amazon Fire TV – there were only a few things that I did not like – Killing of the sheriff – his part in the episode was way to short – Lucy did not measure up as his replacement in any way shape or form. “Big Jim’s” anger face looked like an anger, anger woodchuck and became annoying after the first 20 dozen times he flashed it. Favorite character was Barbie until Season 3 – his role was a crying shame – hated the two new characters they brought in Christine Price (Marg Helgenberger – sucked in this role) and Eve Sinclair were a waste of money as far as I was concerned. Killing off main character only to replace them with more people who were less than desirable in character and plot line was a horrible plot twist. Also the plot for the entire 1st Episode of Season 3 was to convoluted half way through I just wanted to throw up my hands and scream at the TV – “How could you take a good series and turn it into something so horrible it is not worth watching?” – What happened did you fire the original writers or director? IMHO I am glad they canceled the series if it was going to keep Marg Helgenberger’s character in it and turn Barbie into a mindless done – it wasn’t going to be worth watching anyway
We need a spin off from the finale.You can call it ” After The Dome”. It had too many unanswered questions and unresolved issues. Like what happened with Joe and the other. Does Dawn take over earth or is she stopped? Is the truth ever revealed? I was left hanging and unsatisfied.
It should be Over the Dome.:)
I agree with After the Dome, & that it needs a spinoff.
My entire family watches this series. All but one of our shows has been cancelled this year & we’re getting really sick of it.